It’s the first day of summer, and we all deserve a cool treat like this DF Strawberry Dragonfruit Smoothie to celebrate! (DF = Dairy Free, btw.) I love the bright pink color that dragonfruit brings to this smoothie party, and the strawberries help compliment the delicate, mildly sweet pear and kiwi like flavors of the dragonfruit. A little bit of banana helps bring out the tropical notes in the dragonfruit while making the smoothie ultra creamy!
Can I Meal Prep Smoothies?
YES! But…there are some caveats and ways to actually make them meal prep-able that won’t leave you banging your head against the wall in frustration. I know there are some people out there who blend up a few smoothies at once and stick them right in the fridge or freezer until they’re ready to head out the door for work or the gym. I definitely don’t recommend this route, for a couple reasons. First, if you just refrigerate a pre-blended smoothie, the ingredients will separate and the once frozen treat will be way less delicious and appetizing. Second, sticking the whole thing in the freezer will lead to a really hard to drink ice block when you’re ready to go, even if you thaw it overnight (trust me, I’ve tried).
Instead, I’d recommend trying these two methods for prepping smoothies ahead of time:
- Make smoothie packs – With this method, you can divvy up all your ingredients into pre-measured portions so all you’ll need to do in the morning is dump it all in the blender and go. For this DF Strawberry Dragonfruit Smoothie recipe, that would mean measuring out frozen strawberries, dragonfruit, and banana slices and placing them in a resealable container or bags like this or this. Then whisk together the almond milk, collagen, and yogurt and store in a jar in the fridge (preferably the jar you’ll be serving your smoothie in to reduce dishes!). Blend the liquids and frozen fruit in a blender until smooth when you’re ready to eat.
- *Tip: Be sure that the fruits are all frozen separately so that they don’t freeze into a solid block when you put them in a bag. If you’re not working with pre-frozen, bagged fruits, you can do this by laying the sliced bananas, strawberries, and dragonfruit in a single layer on a baking sheet. Stick the baking sheet in the freezer until they’re solid, then quickly transfer them into bags/containers and return them to the freezer.
- Pre-blend and freeze into cubes – This might seem like a nuanced difference from the “blend and stick it right in the freezer method” but trust me, it makes a big difference! Once you blend up your smoothie, pour it into a silicone ice cube tray like this. From there you can just divide the frozen cubes up into mason jars and return them to the freezer, then take them out and put them in the fridge the night before you plan to drink them. Because the smoothie is broken up into smaller cubes, it will melt faster than one big block of frozen smoothie, meaning that you can actually drink it in the morning!
Ingredients & Substitutions
Here are the ingredients you’ll need to make this Dairy Free Strawberry Dragonfruit Smoothie:
- Frozen pink dragonfruit – If you’ve never tried dragonfruit before, now is your chance! Dragonfruit has a delicate, mildly sweet flavor reminiscent of pear and kiwi. You can find pre-frozen pink dragonfruit along with other frozen fruits in your grocery store. Try looking near the pre-made smoothie packs if you’re having a hard time spotting it. If you can’t find it, you can certainly opt to replace it with more strawberries, though you’ll miss out on the gorgeous color and flavor complexity.
- Frozen strawberries – The sweetness of strawberries helps compliment the dragonfruit and rounds out the flavor profile, making this smoothie absolutely delicious! I don’t recommend subbing them out for another fruit.
- Banana – Be sure to use a very ripe banana so it brings plenty of sweetness to the smoothie. Banana helps highlight the tropical notes in the dragonfruit while making the smoothie ultra creamy.
- Dairy free yogurt – If you’re new to the dairy free yogurt world, I recommend heading over to check out my post with taste tests and product reviews of 13 different brands/varieties. The flavors vary widely depending on what the yogurt is made from (coconut, soy, almonds, oats, etc.). I chose a soy based yogurt for this recipe because of the added protein and mostly neutral flavor. Use whatever kind you like, or if you’re not dairy-free, go for something like Dannon Light + Fit Vanilla Greek yogurt.
- Almond milk – Use whatever milk or dairy-free alternative you like best!
- Collagen – Be sure to use a high quality collagen that dissolves well in cold liquid. I really like the one made by Naked Nutrition. Collagen adds a little bit of extra protein without altering the flavor of the smoothie like a vanilla whey protein or plant based protein would.
Shop for This Recipe
DF Strawberry Dragonfruit Smoothie Recipe
Dairy Free Strawberry Dragonfruit Protein Smoothie
Ingredients
- 1 cup frozen strawberry halves, (149 grams)
- 1 cup frozen pink dragonfruit, (139 grams)
- 1 small banana, sliced and frozen, (90 grams)
- 5.3 oz Silk Dairy Free Soy Yogurt, Vanilla
- 3/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, (6 fl oz)
- 2 scoops Naked Nutrition Collagen Peptides Protein Powder, (20 grams)
- Optional: a splash of orange juice or pineapple juice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Divide into 2 serving glasses and serve immediately.
Tips & Tricks
Nutrition Information
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